


The Hunted

by cimmaninroll



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:48:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23832652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cimmaninroll/pseuds/cimmaninroll
Summary: This story is a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the wonderful writer, Plance gardener, queen of angst, and all around terrific gal, Rue. Hope you enjoy :3
Relationships: Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt
Comments: 28
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rueitae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rueitae/gifts).



> This story is a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the wonderful writer, Plance gardener, queen of angst, and all around terrific gal, Rue. Hope you enjoy :3

Lance woke up in a Sleep Pod. Why was he in a Sleep Pod? He couldn’t remember what happened. The rest of the team was huddled in the middle of the chamber, doing… something. He heard Hunk’s voice, distorted through the glass of the pod.

“Yes! I think we’re winning!”

“Winning what?” said another voice that Lance recognized as Keith’s, as the Sleep Pod opened and Lance stumbled forward. “The intergalactic time measuring competition?”

“Yes,” Hunk replied. 

Lance stumbled around in about every direction, until he made his way over to the group. Pidge was holding a clock counting seconds, and so was Coran. Or were Coran’s seconds moving slower? He couldn’t tell. “You guys having a clock party?” Lance asked, eyes half open. 

“Aw, Lance, you just ruined it,” Hunk said, sounding annoyed and turning his head. Then an excited expression came on his face, and he embraced his friend in a huge hug. “Hey! Lance!” 

Lance grunted a little with the force of the hug. That certainly woke him up. “What happened?” he asked once Hunk had released him. 

He felt a hand on his back, and turned to see it was Allura’s. “We can tell you all about it while you get something to eat,” she said. “Are you able to walk?”

“Talking? Eating? Are you asking me out on a date?” Lance asked jokingly. Allura, as well as the rest of the team, seemed fairly unamused. 

“Yep,” Pidge said. “There he is.”

A few minutes later, they were in the Dining Hall, Lance eating food goo with the mice. He still wasn’t sure what exactly the goo  _ was _ , but as far as he was concerned, it was good, it was food, ‘nuff said. 

“He’d be Sendak’s prisoner right now if not for Pidge,” Allura was saying. 

“Well,” Pidge said, smiling at him, “you wouldn’t have survived the explosion if Hunk and Coran hadn’t gotten a new Crystal.”

Lance looked around at them all. “Wow. Thanks, everybody. Sounds like the mice did more than you, though.”

“I punched Sendak,” Keith said, bewildered. 

“Yeah,” Lance retorted, raising an eyebrow, “apparently after  _ I _ emerged from a coma and shot his arm off.”

“We had a bonding moment,” Keith protested. “I cradled you in my arms!”

Lance smirked. “Nope, don’t remember. Didn’t happen. So what happened to Sendak?”

“He’s frozen in a cryopod,” Allura answered. “We’re keeping him here in the Castle.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“He’s too dangerous to be set free. Besides, we might be able to get some information about Zarkon from him.”

Lance thought for a brief moment. This made enough sense to him. He didn’t like the idea of keeping a Galra soldier in the Castle, but Allura did have a point. If they set him free, who knows what he’d do. “So, what’s the plan now?” he asked. 

Hunk was the first to respond. “We have to get back to the Balmera and save Shay and her people.”

Lance laughed. “Wow, you are  _ really _ hung up on this lady!”

“No,” Hunk stammered. “It’s not like that. Look, guys, when you see how Zarkon has treated these people and destroyed their home—They've been under his thumb for so long, they don't even know what it is to be free. It's up to us to set this right. This is what being a Paladin of Voltron is all about. It's time to man up.”

Lance wasn’t entirely convinced this wasn’t the only reason for Hunk’s insistence on freeing the Balmerans. Regardless, it was a good one, and he couldn’t argue with it. 

“Then let’s get moving,” Shiro said. “Time to go defend the universe.”

And with that, they all got up and started walking out of the Dining Hall. Everyone except Pidge. “Wait,” he said. “I have something to say first.”

They all turned. Pidge seemed hesitant. “I need to come clean and… I’m afraid this may change the way you all think about me.”

Lance frowned.  _ Come clean? _ What could he say next that would change how he thought about him?

He continued. “Just so there are no secrets between us anymore. I can’t ‘man up'." He paused again, as if he were truly scared to continue. "I’m a girl.”

Lance was completely flabbergasted.  _ What?! _

“I-I mean, I can ‘man up’, because that’s just a figure of speech,” he- no,  _ she _ \- went on, looking down. “I don’t have to actually be a man to ‘man up’. I just have to be tough. But what I’m saying-”

Lance had to interrupt. “Huh- eh- wha- you’re a _girl?!_ _HOW?!_ ”

“I’ve known for quite some time,” Allura said with a smile. “But I’m glad you shared it with everyone.”

“Yeah, I figured,” Hunk said matter-of-factly.

“Oh yeah, me too,” said Keith. 

Lance couldn’t find words. Had _everyone_ but him known about this?

“Wait,” Coran said, looking perplexed, “we were supposed to think you were a boy?”

_ OH, COME ON!! _

“Pidge,” Shiro interjected, “owning who you are is going to make you a better Paladin.”

Pidge sighed in relief. “It’s good to get that off my chest. Now, let’s launch this Castle ship!”

Everyone but Lance leaves the Dining Hall, leaving him confounded and confused. He shook his head. “Wait, what? Pidge is a girl and the castle is a ship? How long have I been out?” A moment passed, and then he followed them out. 

Soon, they were all on the bridge. Allura stood at the center of the room, in front of some sort of console. The paladins were all in their armor. Several coloured chairs emerged from the floor, one for each paladin. Everyone took their respective seats and prepared for launch. 

"Activate interlock," ordered Allura. 

Coran began pressing various buttons. "Dynotherms connected."

The Castle began to make a low humming sound, and Lance felt the room shake. "Mega-thrusters are go," Allura said. 

"We are ready to depart planet Arus on your mark, Princess," Coran said, flipping one final switch. 

"Firing main engines for launch."

The Castle began to shake more, and the humming grew louder. Then it stopped. 

"Uhh," Lance said, looking at the Arusian landscape out the window, "we haven't moved."

"A most astute observation, Lance," Keith said sarcastically. Lance glared. 

"Coran," Allura said, "run a quick diagnostic."

He nodded and began typing into the console. "Ah, there's the problem. The main engines have completely lost power."

"How can that be? We checked all systems after the attack." She turned to face Pidge. "Pidge, could you go down to the central energy chamber and see what's wrong?"

"On it," Pidge said, and she got up and walked out of the room. 

"I'll go, too," Lance said, standing up. 

"Why?" asked Keith skeptically. "No offense, but what do you know about Altean technology? Or any technology, for that matter?"

"I know things," Lance said defensively, crossing his arms. "Besides, she might appreciate the company."

Keith said nothing for a moment, and just looked at him. Then he sat back in his chair. "Whatever."

Satisfied, Lance made his way towards the energy chamber. He thought about the paladin he was on his way to find while he walked. Pidge was a  _ girl _ . That was a shock. Not that it bothered him. It did make him think of her a little differently, though. He couldn't quite wrap his head around how or why, but it did. He knew that she hadn't actually changed at all - all that had changed was his perception of her. He no longer thought of her like a brother he could do and talk about anything with, like he did Hunk. She was still his best friend, of course. After all the time they'd spent together at the Garrison, and the danger they'd already faced together as Paladins of Voltron, he doubted anything would change that. He decided he would have to pin down what exactly she was to him now, and give it a name. 

He arrived at the chamber and walked in. He found the green Paladin at an open panel in the console. 

"What are we looking at here?" Lance asked, and Pidge yelped. 

"L-Lance! I- what are you doing down here?"

Lance raised his hands in mock defense. "I thought you could use some company. Sorry I startled you."

"It's fine," she said, sighing. "You've never been so keen on keeping me company before, though."

"Well, I mean, I figured, the energy chamber is pretty big and empty, I thought you might get lonely, and-"

"Lance," she interrupted. "I know this is probably weird for you, and that's understandable. But don't want you, or the rest of the team, to start treating me differently because I'm a girl. I haven't changed at all."

"No, I know," Lance said. "It's just a little weird is all. I mean, I've known you for so long, but it never crossed my mind that you were a girl."

"You weren't supposed to," Pidge said matter-of-factly. 

"Yeah," he said. "So anyway, what do we have here?"

"I was just about to call it in," she said, activating her comm. "This is Pidge. You guys there?"

"Reading you," came Shiro's voice over the open comm link. 

"I'm with Lance in the central energy chamber. It looks like someone's deliberately cut the wires to the main engine."

"You're saying someone sabotaged the Castle?" asked Lance. "Who?"

"It wouldn't have been one of us," Keith said over the comm. "We all want to get to the Balmera. Someone else is aboard the Castle."

"Oh," Lance heard Hunk say. "That's not good."

"With Coran's help, I should be able to fix the engine," Pidge said, "but until we figure out who messed with it and deal with them, we can't take off."

Lance's mind jumped to the most likely suspect. "When was the last time anyone checked on Sendak?"

Pidge looked at him. "But he's in cryostasis."

"The Castle is over ten thousand years old. Who knows if those cryopods function properly." He stood up. "And I don't think we can afford to assume they do. I'm going to go make sure he's where he's supposed to be." And he walked out of the room. 

It was only a moment later that he heard Pidge's frightened scream in his comm unit. "Pidge!" he yelled, running back into the room. He found Pidge's upper half sticking out of a grate in the floor. She was being dragged down. 

He rushed over to her, grabbing her arms and trying to pull her back up. He nearly lost his balance from the resistance he was encountering. Whatever, or whoever was trying to drag her down was pretty strong. He kept her above ground until Hunk, Keith and Shiro arrived to help him. They all pulled, and the force that was dragging her down stopped, the sudden release sending everyone backward. 

Pidge was breathing heavily. She looked at Lance. "Thank you."

"Sure," he said. He glanced over at the open grate they'd just rescued her from. "Aren't you glad I decided to keep you company?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Are you okay?" Lance asked. Pidge nodded, her face only barely showing the remnants of the terror she'd felt just minutes ago.

They were in the lounge now, and everyone was looking at Pidge, who was on the couch hugging her knees into her chest. She looked around at the faces of her teammates watching her. "Really, guys, I'm fine," she said. 

"Can you tell us what happened?" Keith asked tentatively. 

"I was at the control panel. When Lance left the room, someone in the vent grabbed my leg and tried to pull me down."

"Did you get a look at who it was?" Shiro inquired. 

Pidge shook her head. "I didn't see them."

"Hey," Lance said. "No one ever did go and pay Sendak a visit in the Stasis Bay, did they?"

"I'll go check it out now," said Shiro. "Keith, you go check out the vent in the central energy chamber. Follow it, see if you find anything. Everyone else, be on your guard."

"Will do," replied the red Paladin, and they both got up and left the lounge. 

"Allura and I will go to the bridge and make sure no other systems have been tampered with," announced Coran, marching out of the room with the Princess close behind. 

“And then there were three,” Lance said humoredly. 

“Are you sure you’re okay, Pidge?” Hunk asked. “That must have been pretty scary, getting pulled down like that.”

“Yeah. I’m good,” she responded, with enough certainty to satisfy her friend. 

“Alright, then,” he said. “Well. I’m going to go take a look at the main engines, see if I can figure out a way to fix it. I’ve been reading up on Altean engineering in the memory chamber, so hopefully I’ll get somewhere.”

Hunk stood up and took the left exit. The two remaining Paladins in the room sat in silence for a brief time, then Pidge spoke. “I guess I should thank you for being so weirdly bent on coming with me.”

“I guess you should,” Lance came back with a smirk. “If not for me, you’d be in the air ducts right now. You might even owe me your life.”

“Oh, yes, I am forever indebted to you,” Pidge said with a most sarcastic eye roll. “Seriously, though. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

There was another silence, and then Lance spoke again. “If you don’t mind my asking… Why have you been pretending to be a guy all this time? It’s not like girls aren’t allowed into the Garrison.”

“Well,” Pidge said, taking a deep breath, “you know already that my dad and my brother were on the Kerberos mission with Shiro. The official reports said they died, but I didn’t believe it. Still don’t. So, I started looking for them, and part of that search included hacking into the computer in Iverson’s office.”

“You _what?!_ ” Lance exclaimed. “How the heck did you even get in there?”

“It wasn’t too hard, actually. Their security isn’t what they think it is.” _Wow,_ thought Lance. _She’s even smarter than I thought. And I thought she was a genius!_

Pidge continued. “But Iverson caught me, and I was banned from ever stepping foot onto the Garrison. So, to gather more information, I disguised myself as a boy, changed my name, and enrolled as a cadet. I thought if I could remain on the inside undetected, I would have the best chance of finding out what really happened on that mission.”

“Wow,” Lance said. “You must really want to find them.”

“Yeah, they’re my family. They could be in real, serious danger. I have to find them and make sure they’re okay.”

Lance looked at her. He had never really taken her for having a deep emotional connection to much of anything besides technology. Now, though, he admired how much she seemed to care about her family. He knew that if his mom or dad, or any of his siblings went missing, he would have the same steadfast determination. “We’ll help you find them,” he said. “You know, after we save the universe.”

“Sounds good,” she replied. 

“Wait. If your name isn’t really Pidge Gunderson, what is it?”

The girl smiled. “Katie. My name is Katie Holt.”

“Katie, huh?” Lance said, smiling back. “I like it.”

“Thanks. You can keep calling me Pidge, though.”

“Well, if you say so… Katie.”

She looked at him, then sighed. "This is going to be a thing with you now, isn't it?"

"I don't know _what_ you mean," the boy replied with a grin.

Then a voice crackled through the comm unit. “I’ve checked all systems,” Coran said. “Everything besides the main engine seems to be up and running.”

Well, that was good. It was likely only temporary, however. Whoever had cut power to the engine would cut power to anything else as well, if they needed to. 

"I'm in the Stasis Bay," came Shiro's voice. "Sendak's still here."

"He could've come out, tried to kidnap Pidge, and come back so we wouldn't suspect him," Lance said. 

"I don't think so. The readings have remained constant, which means he never came out of his cryopod."

"Maybe the readings are wrong. The Castle is still over ten thousand years old."

"Maybe. But even still, our prime suspect can't be someone who's basically in a coma. Keith, anything to report?"

"Negative," Lance heard Keith respond. "I've been following this tunnel, and all I'm seeing is more tunnel."

"Alright," Shiro said. "Go ahead and come back up. We'll all regroup on the bridge to come up with a plan."

Ten minutes later, Keith joined the rest of the Paladins on the bridge. 

"Okay, team," Shiro said. "What do we know?"

"We know someone, or something, besides us is aboard the Castle," answered Keith. "They cut power to the main engine, and tried to take Pidge. Sendak's readings show he's remained in cryostasis since we put him there, so we can pretty safely rule him out. We can assume whoever it is is using the vents to move through the Castle."

"Which basically means they could be anywhere," Hunk said, "even listening to this conversation right now, and we wouldn't know it. Which is totally not creepy at all."

"Hunk's right," Shiro said. "This thing could be anywhere in the Castle, so we need to look everywhere, and that means we split up."

"Umm, what?" Lance asked, raising his eyebrows. He shook his head. "Nnnnonono. I don't know if you've ever seen a horror movie, Shiro, but you _never_ split up. If we split up, the monster will pick us off one by one. There is strength in numbers. We need to stick together."

"This isn't a horror movie, Lance," Shiro said bluntly. "We need to find the intruder as quickly as possible so we can leave for the Balmera. The best way of doing that is to divide our forces."

"Fine," Lance said, crossing his arms, "but if we all get eaten, I just want you to know, I'm blaming you."

"Princess, you and Keith search the first two floors," the black Paladin continued. "Lance and Hunk, you two take the third and fourth. Pidge and I will check the fifth and sixth. Look for anything that might give us a clue as to who our saboteur is. Coran, I need you to monitor the security cameras. If you see anything, let us know."

With that, everyone started walking to their designated floors to search for the intruder. 

"What do you think?" Lance asked Hunk as they were walking. 

"About what?" responded the yellow Paladin. 

"The intruder. Who do you think it is?"

"I really don't know, Lance. But something has occured to me."

"What?"

"The easiest assumption to make is that the person doing this is making a play against Voltron. After all, the entire Galra Empire wants us out of the picture. It makes sense. But what if that's not the case?"

Lance looked at him. "You think they're targeting Pidge specifically?"

"Think about it. They only tried to take her once you were out of the room."

"And they knew Pidge would be the most likely person we'd send to check out the engine," Lance said, pondering. "But who would have a grudge against Pidge?"

"I don't know."

"Well, if they're going after Pidge, we need to protect her!" Lance shrieked, panicking. "She's in danger! What if she gets dragged into the floor again and I'm not there to pull her out?"

"Woah, Lance," Hunk said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Relax. She's with Shiro, remember? She's totally safe."

"Oh. Right."

"I just hope we can find the guy before something else bad happens."

And then everything went dark. They stopped dead in their tracks.

"You mean like that, Hunk?"


	3. Chapter 3

Lance couldn't see a thing. The Castle was pitch black. "Hey, who turned out the lights?"

"I understood that reference!" he heard Pidge say through the communicator.

"Coran, what's going on?" Shiro asked.

"I'm not sure," came Coran's reply. "It appears as though the power has been cut to all the lights throughout the Castle. I can't get them back online from here."

"I guess we'll have to make do," Shiro said, as Lance and Hunk switched on the headlamps on their Paladin helmets. "Everyone keep moving, and be on your guard. With the lights out, our intruder can move on the ground without being seen. They won't have to use the vents anymore."

"Great," said Hunk. "Now not only could they be anywhere in the Castle, they could attack us at any time. That's awesome. Really awesome."

They continued to walk forward, keeping an eye out for any sign of the creature. Lance was uneasy. It had been bad enough knowing they could be in the walls or the floor of the room he was in. Now, they could've been six feet from him with nothing but empty space between them, and he wouldn't see them until it was too late. More importantly, they could be that close to Pidge, and if they really were after her specifically, that was very, very concerning - even if she was with Shiro. 

They came to what she was pretty sure was the Training Deck. They went around the entire room, checking every book and cranny, but found nothing. Lance was almost glad. Satisfied that it was empty, they left the room and continued on toward the north end of the Castle. 

"So did you know Pidge was a girl the whole time?" Lance said, eager to break the eerie silence. 

"I mean, I didn't _know_ ," Hunk said. "But the way she brushed us off when we first met, her not wanting to be part of some of our more ‘guy-ish’ activities… plus she never used the locker room. She always went to her room to change. So I kinda figured." They were now approaching the kitchen.

"And you never said anything?" Lance asked as they entered the room. 

"Well, I figured if she was hiding who she was, then who she was probably wasn't supposed to be a cadet at the Galaxy Garrison. If I'd said anything, it could've blown her cover."

"But you didn't know why she was there. For all you knew, she could've been up to something really bad. So why didn't you turn her in?"

"I may not have known why she was there, but I knew she wasn't there to do anything bad."

“How?”

“I just had a gut feeling,” Hunk responded, opening the oven to have a peek inside. “And my gut is an excellent judge of character. It’s never wrong.”

“Are you looking for the monster in the oven?”

“Hey, it could be, like, pretty small, and the oven is as good a hiding spot as any.”

“Is it in there?”

Hunk closed the oven door. “No. But it could’ve been. Check the cupboards.”

Lance sighed, then knelt down to look in the cupboard under the sink. “Okay, so you didn’t tell Iverson or anybody, sure. But why didn’t you tell me?”

“It wasn’t my place to tell anyone,” said the yellow Paladin, searching the cabinets on the other end of the room. “I myself wasn’t supposed to know, so what right would I have? You’re my best friend, Lance, and while I do trust you, you could’ve spilled it to someone, intentionally or not, and she’d be compromised.”

“Okay… I guess that makes sense. I kinda wish I’d known, though.”

“Well, you know now,” Hunk said, as he closed the cabinet. “It doesn’t look like there’s anything in here. Let’s keep moving.”

Lance stood up and followed his friend out the door, and they continued northward. Now that it was silent again, the wheels in his head started turning, as he tried to figure out what Pidge was to him. He loved spending time with her. Granted, he hadn’t done it a whole lot. He had always been a little hurt when she dismissed his attempts to hang out with her, but he knew now why she had. And her refusal to spend time with him only made him more determined. Anytime he convinced her to do something with him and Hunk, he thoroughly enjoyed it, and it brought them a little bit closer. Now even more than back then, he wanted to talk with her more, to get to know her better. It occurred to him that he had never really known a whole lot about Pidge Gunderson, and only just today had he learned anything about Katie Holt. He wanted to know more. What got her excited? What made her sad? What were her ambitions? She was a mystery waiting to be solved, and Lance wanted to solve it.

He wasn’t completely sure what that meant, though. And he didn’t really know how Pidge felt about him, either. Her main priority was finding her family; Lance knew that much. She didn’t really want anything to do with him and Hunk, or anyone else, when she first arrived. She had almost left team Voltron because her quest to find her father and brother was more important to her. Were they really friends, or was he just someone she had to deal with to get where she wanted to be? She seemed to care enough about him when they had talked earlier. But how did she really feel? If she was so quick to try to leave the team, how important could Lance - and the rest of the Paladins - really be to her?

“Lance!” Hunk almost shouted, and Lance was snapped back to the situation at hand. “You okay? You’ve been quiet for a while.”

“Yeah,” Lance said. “I was just thinking.”

Lance was now aware that they were approaching the Stasis Bay. At that moment, Coran’s voice came over the comm. 

“Paladins. We may have a problem.”

“What is it, Coran?” answered Shiro. 

“Another system has just gone offline. It's the Stasis Bay.”

“What?” Lance said, looking around the bay There were maybe five or six pods total in the room. “That’s impossible. Hunk and I are in the Stasis Bay, and- ”

He froze. Right in front of him was Sendak’s cryopod. Empty. 

“Great!” Hunk yelled. “Now we have two murderous psychos on the loose! This day just keeps getting better!”

“He can’t have gotten far from the bay,” Shiro said. Sit tight, Lance. We’re coming to you. Keith, Allura, keep an eye out, and watch your backs.”

“Roger that,” Keith said. “We’ll keep searching down here.”

“Really,” Hunk continued. “This is wonderful. This is exactly how I wanted today to go. Just this morning, I was thinking, ‘You know what would make today _great?_ If we were trapped inside the Castle with a bunch of monsters hunting us!’”

“Try to calm down, Hunk,” Lance said. “You’re scaring yourself.”

"No, Lance. What's scaring me is the First in Command of the Galra Empire, a ruthless, cold-blooded killer, having free reign about the Castle!"

"Get ahold of yourself."

Lance didn’t blame him for freaking out, of course. The situation had indeed just gotten much worse. They had only just defeated Sendak, and it hadn’t been easy. He had almost killed Pidge. Now he was loose again. Subduing him again would be difficult. 

That’s when Shiro and Pidge came running into the room. “That was fast,” Lance remarked. 

“Have you seen any sign of him?” Shiro asked with urgency. 

“No,” Lance replied. 

“We need to find him, and fast,” Pidge said. “We have enough on our hands with whoever else is hiding in the Castle without Sendak being thrown into the mix.”

“Agreed,” said Shiro. “There’s only two ways in and out of this room. He can’t have gotten too far by now.”

“Pidge and I will take the south entrance,” Lance said. 

“Alright. Hunk and I will check the north. Keep both eyes peeled.”

With that, they departed. Once they were in the corridor, Pidge spoke. “Why did you want to go with me? Hunk’s your best friend.”

“So are you, you know,” Lance answered. “Besides, I want to make sure you’re safe. Sendak was about to kill you yesterday.” _Plus, I really want to talk to you more._

“Yeah,” she said. “If you hadn’t shot his arm off, he might have.” She met his gaze. “I haven’t really thanked you for that since you woke up, have I?”

“You don’t need to.”

“I feel like I do,” she said. “You literally emerged from a coma. He could’ve killed me if not for you. You saved my life, Lance.” She looked away. “You seem to have a knack for that, actually.”

Lance once again found himself just looking at her. Any doubt he had about her friendship being sincere had now been absolved. “Well, as long as you have a knack for getting into trouble, it’ll stay that way,” he said, nudging her a little with his shoulder. She half laughed. 

Then they rounded the corner, and there was Sendak. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, remember this? I just realized it hasn't been updated in exactly four months (Rue I'm so sorry I slipped into a block and got stuck in it hhhhnngg)! Anyway, I finally got my motivation to write back, so this fic is back, baby! Enjoy ^w^

Gasping, they backed up and hid behind the corner. A quick peek reassured Lance they hadn’t been seen. Sendak’s back was to them, and he was walking down the corridor. As quietly as he could, Lance spoke into his communicator. “Shiro. We found Sendak, right by the lounge. He hasn’t noticed us.”

“Try and keep it that way,” Shiro said. “We’re headed there now. Don’t let him out of your sight.”

“This is Keith,” another voice said. “Allura and I are headed there, too.”

“No,” Shiro said. “We still have a second unwelcome passenger aboard. You and the Princess keep searching. We’ll take care of Sendak.”

“Ten-four.”

As Sendak turned to the right and rounded the next corner, Pidge and Lance crept slowly forward along the wall, until they were in a position that they could see him. The light from their helmets reached just far enough that they could make him out, but not so far that he seemed to notice. Lance was relieved to see he hadn’t reclaimed his mechanical arm. The short stub hung uselessly from his shoulder. 

He looked at Pidge and noticed she was breathing a little heavier than normal. Of course. Sendak had almost squeezed the life out of her the last time they’d fought. She had good reason to be afraid. “Where do you think he’s headed?” she asked, clearly fighting to keep her voice from shaking. 

“Well, if I were a Galra commander who’d been disarmed and imprisoned,” Lance said quietly, “I’d be looking for my arm.”

Pidge raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m going to ignore that terrible pun you just made.”

“Probably for the best.”

They continued tailing him. Sendak kept straight at the next three junctions, then took a right, a left, another left, and another right. 

“I know where he’s going,” Pidge said after rounding the corner. 

Lance looked at her. “What?”

“I’ve seen the Castle’s schematics,” she continued. “Only for a few minutes, but long enough. I know each and every corridor, and where they all lead.”

“Wait… you mean you have a photographic memory?”

“Well, technically it’s called eidetic memory, and everyone has it to a certain degree. Eidetic memory is the ability to see an almost perfect mental image of something in their memory, viewing it like a photograph in your mind. This kind of information retention also applies to other sensory memories, like sound. What’s commonly referred to as photographic memory is just a higher form of eidetic memory. Basically, my mental image just lasts longer in my mind than yours would. A truly photographic memory would be recalling pages of text or numbers in almost perfect detail, but without picturing it in your head - information without visualization. True photographic memory has never really been proven to exist, and many believe it to be a scientific myth-”

“Pidge,” Lance interrupted. “As much as I love listening to you ramble, I believe you were about to tell me where Sendak is headed?”

Pidge blushed, seemingly embarrassed by her tangent. “He’s headed for the lab.”

“The lab?” Lance repeated. “Why would he go there?”

“Hunk and I thought if we could figure out how his arm works, we could reverse-engineer it to build something that could be really useful to Voltron. So, we’ve been studying it-”

“In the lab. We should stop him.”

“Yep.”

And with that, they both leapt out of the shadows to confront the Galra commander. Lance was the first to attack, firing a shot with his bayard that would have hit Sendak right in the back of his head, had he not ducked down at the last second. Sendak turned to see Pidge charging towards him, bayard in hand. She was about to land her hit when Sendak grabbed her wrist with his remaining arm, throwing her directly at her fellow Paladin. They collided and toppled to the ground, meanwhile their opponent turned and ran, continuing in the direction he had been going. They got back up and followed him, where they found him now battling Shiro and Hunk. 

Hunk fired a blast from his bayard, which Sendak sidestepped to avoid, darting forward faster than seemed possible for a being of his size. Hunk kept firing, but he was panicking and his aim was off. Sendak dodged every single shot, finally getting in close enough to perform a sweep kick that sent the Yellow Paladin to the ground. While he was still on the ground, he kicked him so hard he flew straight at Pidge and Lance. They caught him, managing to keep from being knocked over again. Shiro lunged at Sendak, his mechanical left hand glowing purple. He unleashed a flurry of slashes and jabs, which Sendak avoided by backing up. Sendak swung the arm he had at Shiro’s head and he ducked, only to catch a knee square in the face that sent him rocketing upward, bouncing off the ceiling and hitting the ground with a thud. Once again, Sendak fled, leaving the Paladins to regain their composure. 

“Why’s he keep running?” Hunk inquired. “Aren’t Galra all about ‘victory or death?’”

“He’s keeping us at arm’s length,” said Shiro. “He’s after something and he doesn’t want us to get to it first.”

“His arm,” Pidge answered the unasked question. “That’s what he’s after. It’s in the lab.”

“Then let’s take him down before he gets to it. We have enough problems without a fully armed Sendak to deal with.”

They ran after Sendak, Shiro taking the lead. As they turned the corner, Lance just caught a glimpse of their pursuee taking a right at the next junction. They pressed ahead. 

“We’re coming up on the lab,” said Pidge. “The next left turn will lead straight to it.”

Sure enough, they turned left when they reached the next intersection, and there was the door to the lab, Sendak heading straight for it. Lance unholstered his bayard and stopped running to steady his aim. He pulled the trigger and sent an energy bolt right into Sendak’s left knee. He fell forward and collapsed with a  _ thud _ , a few feet from the door. Wasting no time, Shiro leapt onto the commander’s back, wrapping his arms around his neck, catching him in a chokehold. Sendak stood up, reached behind him, grabbed Shiro from his back and slammed him into the ground. 

“Some Champion you are,” he snarled, looking down at him. “You can’t even defeat me at my weakest.”

Before anyone got close enough to stop him, Sendak walked into the lab. Everyone ran harder, bursting through the door. Sendak was at the operation table, now holding his severed mechanical arm, his back to them. Pidge’s bayard reappeared in her hand, and she shot it forward. It struck true, hitting the arm right out of Sendak’s furry clawed hands. Sendak turned around, looking rather annoyed. Pidge ran forward, slid right between the Galra’s legs, snatched the arm from the ground and used her jetpack to get back on her feet. 

“We sure can outsmart you, though,” she said, turning around to face him with a smirk. “Dummy.”

Sendak growled, and Pidge stuck her tongue out at him and ran out of the room. 

Sendak, Lance and the rest of the Paladins followed. Hunk stopped to fire several shots at Sendak, who dodged each one, causing them to nearly hit the Green Paladin. 

“Whoa!” she yelped, having to jump to avoid one of Hunk’s bolts. “Hold your fire, guys! I have a plan!”

“You mind telling us what it is?” Lance shouted back. 

“Just follow my lead!”

They hit a dead end, and what happened then, Lance had to say he didn’t expect. Pidge ran a few steps up the wall, pushed off and activated her jetpack, corkscrewing right over Sendak’s head and landing in a roll on the other side of him. 

“Hunk, catch!” she yelled, and threw Sendak’s arm right at her fellow Paladin. He had to take a few steps forward to catch it, but it landed in his arms and he turned around and started running. Sendak thundered past after him, and they followed suit. 

“That was some move,” Lance said to Pidge as they ran. 

She shrugged. “A year of gymnastics taught me a trick or two.”

After a minute or two, Hunk came skidding to a halt. “Get ready, Lance,” he said, before hurling the arm right over Sendak’s head. It made a perfect arc right into Lance’s arms. Lance almost dropped it when he caught it - it was heavier than he thought. He almost squeaked when he saw Sendak running towards him. He turned to the right and started running, the Galra commander hot on his tail. 

“Pidge,” he said into the comm, “now would be a great idea to tell me what this plan of yours is.”

“Okay,” came her voice on the other end. “We had to play keep-away for a little while to wear him out. Now that he’s getting tired, we can take him down. I can see where you are in the Castle, I’m gonna direct you. Follow my instructions carefully. Take the next left, and keep straight until I say.”

“Left, got it,” he said. When he came to the next junction, he turned left, kicking off the wall to keep from running face first into it. He kept running. It wasn’t long before he was out of breath and his legs were tired. That arm was seriously heavy. Soon he realized Sendak was now gaining, and fast. 

“Take another left here,” came the next instruction. 

  
  


Lance did as he was told and took a sharp left at the next fork. 

“Okay, take a right and then a left right after.”

Lance continued following Pidge’s directions for a while. A right, two lefts, and another right later, he dashed by a corner and looked behind him to see Pidge pressed against it. As Sendak passed by her, she stuck out her hand and hit him with a charged-up electric shock from her bayard. Sendak collapsed on the floor, tried to get back up, and Pidge hit him again with a shock right to the head. His face fell onto the ground again, and he didn’t get back up. 

“Nice work, Lance,” she said as the Blue Paladin made his way over. Shiro and Hunk emerged from the other side of the corridor. 

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” he said, feeling rather faint. He shoved the arm at his teammate. “Here. You carry this now.”


End file.
